


love is how you stay alive

by sinceresapphire



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Nazis, Post-Crisis On Earth X, Spoilers, crisis on earth x spoilers, nazis mention
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 16:13:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12938937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sinceresapphire/pseuds/sinceresapphire
Summary: Rip returns to the Waverider and learns of Martin and Jax.





	love is how you stay alive

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILERS FOR THOSE NOT UP TO DATE ON EVENTS IN THE ARROWVERSE
> 
> I got sudden inspiration to write something about Rip finding out about what happened to Martin and Jax. I'm sure canon will mess this up so I'm tagging it as canon divergent. 
> 
> The tile come from this quote by Mitch Albom - “Love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone.”

Stepping onto the Waverider after such a long time away in a place he doesn’t want to think about, Rip pauses so he can enjoy the moment.

 

He stands on the bridge with Captain Lance and Agent Sharpe as they wait for the rest of the team.

 

Part of him wonders about the look on Sara’s face when he asked how the team was doing earlier but he remembers she never gave him an answer.

 

Knowing the Legends, this can’t mean anything good.

 

Rip leans against the central counsel and settles in to wait for them to arrive.

 

The first person he sees is the woman with dark hair who he thinks is named Zari, who he saw when Darhk returned to life.

 

She looks at him before settling in on the stairs to the office.

 

The rest of the team slowly trickles in after that.

 

The sight of someone who looked like Leonard Snart catches him off guard because he is afraid of how the man came to be here and what the possible the consequences are.

 

Sara notices the look on his face.

 

“Rip, its not what you think. We didn’t do some magic or experimental time travel to get **our** Leonard back.”

 

He raises an eyebrow at her comment, hearing the emphasis on the word ‘our’.

 

“This is Leonard Snart, prefers Leo, from another Earth and  we met when Nazis attacked Iris and Barry’s wedding.”

 

His jaw dropped because he wasn’t expecting that.

 

Something tells him that there is more to the story than what Sara said.

 

“It’s a pleasure, Mr. Snart,” he says to the new man.

 

Leo grins at Rip.

 

“Please, it’s Leo,” is the reply.

 

The man’s attitude and mannerisms are different than the version he knew.

 

With that out of the way, his eyes scan the other members of the team and noticing that something is off because they look less vibrant, less lively, less _legend-like_ from the last time he saw them and that sets off the warning bells in his head.

 

It’s that moment he notices the absence of two key members of the team.

 

“Where are Dr. Stein and Mr. Jackson?” he asks the room at large.

 

The question steals all the air from the room as the Legends look at each other, not sure how to break the news to him.

 

As the silence grows and goes on, his concern grows because he starts to think about what happened and why neither man would be here.

 

Ray opens his mouth to say something but words don’t come out.

 

It takes him a couple more tries before he is able to break the news to Rip, whose concern is at all time level high, not helped at all by Ray’s inability to speak.

 

Ray rambles, he doesn’t have problems speaking.

 

“Some of the team ended up on the other Earth where the Nazis came from including, Marty and Jax. In the firefight,” his voice cracks so he takes a moment to collect himself, “Marty ended up getting shot twice but he was able to open the gate for them to return.”

 

Zari moves over to Ray’s side as Sara picks up the story.

 

There’s an air of sadness about her that he barely picks up but can tell is there because he knows her.

 

“Jax merged with Martin because that was the only way they could transport him and they got him back to our Earth. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much Gideon could do to save him. Martin passed away after taking Cisco and Well’s antidote to Firestorm.”

 

Once the words leave Sara’s lips, Rip’s legs give out but his hold on the counsel supports him.

 

He looks over at Sara when he feels her hand on his arm.

 

“I believe that I need a moment and we need to get to the temporal zone.”

 

Everyone moves over to the seats and strap in as they prepare for a time jump.

 

The moment they’re safe in the temporal zone, Rip is out of his seat and heading towards the office for a drink.

 

The others watch him leave before turning to Sara.

 

“I’ve got it. Amaya, show Agent Sharpe where she can get a change of clothes, a shower then let her use my room to change.”

 

“Okay Sara. Let us know if there’s anything we can do. We’ve had time to process Martin’s death and Jax’s departure. He hasn’t and there’s what he went through in the prison.”

 

It’s clear to Sara that her team won’t leave until they hear it from her.

 

“Will do. Now, get out of here everyone.”

 

As she follows Rip, she hears Nate tell Amaya and Agent Sharpe to join them in the kitchen when they’re done.

 

Sara leans against the door frame as she watches Rip.

 

He’s sitting in the chair with a glass filled with amber liquid in and not staring at anything in particular.

 

One thing Sara knows is what its like to come back home and find out someone you love is dead.

 

“He went out a hero. Oliver, Jax, our friend Alex, Barry and I would have died if he didn’t manage to get the gate open.”

 

Rip looks up at her words then sighs.

 

“It seems I have missed quite a lot.”

 

Sara knows they should talk about how and why he ended up in prison but she also knows this isn’t the time for that conversation.

 

“There’s nothing you could have done, Rip, had you been with us. How many times did Jax complain about Martin being stubborn?”

 

Leaning against the desk, she grabs his glass and takes a sip before putting down, just out of reach.

 

“Speaking of Mr. Jackson, did he die as well? You said something about an antidote to Firestorm.”

 

Sara shakes her head.

 

“Jax is good and alive, back home with his mom. It was just too hard for him to remain on the ship. Running into a younger Martin helped him get closure but still, there’s a lot of memories onboard.”

 

Rip can’t help smiling slightly at the memories of Firestorm, of the relationship between Jax and Martin.

 

Seeing something in her face, he reaches for her hand.

 

“Letting him go was the right call, Sara. It is the best thing for him right now.”

 

She smiles softly.

 

“I know but its hard, losing two members of my family. I’m going to miss them both.”

 

“As will I. We will do our best to fight on in their memory.”

 

 


End file.
